Improvement in fuses for explosive shells



. fuse when contained in such plug.

p which the plunger-case is screwed.

lharrnn raras arent einen@ BENJAMIN F 'STURTE'VANT, OF BOSTON, MASSACHSIYFIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN FUSES FOR EXPLSEVE'SHELLS.

Specification tbnuiug part ol' Letters Patent No. 36,038, dated July 2.), 1d62.

To all wiz/om, z' may concern/ Beit known that l, BENJAMIN F. S'rUR'rn- KRANT, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident oi' Boston, in the county of Sul-folk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usei'ul apparatus to be ap plied to the fuse and fuse-plug of an ordnanceshell for the purpose of setting re to the fuse at the periodvof `discharge of the shell from a gun or a mortar; andI do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the following specification and represented in the accompaf nying drawings, of which- Figure Al denotes alongitudinal section of a fuse-plug as provided with my invention, the said ligure being dra-wn on a scale of twicethe usual dimensions of the apparatus asv constructed for use. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sec tion ofthe plunger of my said invention as prepared for operation. The nature of my invention consists in an explosive friction apparatus, or combination of a plunger, a friction powder or composition chamber, a plunger-case, and a'frictiontongue, the whole being constructed and arranged so as to be applied toaJ fuse-plug and its fuse, and to operate therewith in manner and under circumstances substantially as hereinafter described.

My invention also further consists in a peculiar construction of the friction-tongue, and also a peculiar combination and arrangement of the lower part or walls of the plunger, and also in the extension of the friction composition chamber within the interior or chamber of the plunger, substantially in manner and for the purpose as hereinafter specified.

I am aware that it is not new to apply to a fuse plug or case an apparatus to produce iire by percussion, and for the purpose of iiring a My invention,lhowever, does not .so operate, but produces lire by friction, and can readily be applied to the cases or metallic plugs as ordinarily employed for tin1e-fuses- Y In the drawings, A exhibits such a fuse oase or plug as provided with a tapering socketl,

for the reception of afuse. rlhis socket leads downward from a cylindrical chamber, b, into This latter is provided with a cylindrical chamber, c, which is open at its bottom and Yclosed at its top, except that it has any suitable number of gas or ame escaping passages, c?, d, made bered, as shown at d.

through such top. A cylindrical plunger, C, is inserted and fitted closelyinto the chamber c of the case B, the said plunger being cham- 'The lower end of the plunger is open, and it should be made with. a very thin and iiexible lower part or edge, in order. that when the plunger muy be driven back against the shoulder c of the fuse-case AU it may bend up or be upset, so as not ,to cut into the shoulder .and break or separate the wallsotthe fuse-plug in such manner as to allow the flame of its burning fuse to prematurely gain access to the charge ot' the shell. A common percussion-cap; D, such as is usually employed on the nipple of a musket or other tire-arm, is atlixed to the upper part oi' the plunger C. ln order to accomplish this, the cap may be so arranged inthe mold used for casting the plunger as to enable the metal ol` which the plunger may be composed to encompass thc base or iiange of the cap, and in a manner to firmly connectthe cap with the plunger when the metal may become solidiiied. The chamber of the cap is to be continued down so as to open into the chamber d of the plunger, and may be extended down into such chamber d' by means of a flexible iiange, f, which, after the chamber g of the cap may have been supplied with fulminating or friction composition, may be bent down or upset so as to close the mouth of the said chamber g.

A metallic bifurcated tongue, E, extends from the plunger'case B down into the cap D or the chamber y, as shown in the drawings. This tongue consists of a single strip of metal bent so as to have two prongs and a head. The prongs should have rough or rasping surfaces. After the prongs may have been passed through the top oi' the case li and that of the cap D,\so that the head ot' such tongue may rest on the bottom oi' a recess, h, made in the said top; they should be spread apart or bowed, as shown in Fig. l. lext the chain ber g] should, be supplied with the friction powder or composition, which may be made of two part-s ot' sulphnrct ot' antimony and one part ot' chlorat-e of potassa, nioistened or made into a paste with a solution of gumarabic. This friction-paste should be placed in the upper part ofthe chamber, so as to sury round the tongue E, aft-er which the flange j' 2 3&038

should be upset or bent down toward the axis of the chamber g, as shown in Fig. 2,in order to stop or seal the mouth of the chamber; or such chamber may be sealed by means of a plug. f Y,

The fuse-plug, as well as the plunger C and its case B, may be made o'f Brittania metal. The parts, D 'and E may be constructed of copper.

In theact of discharging from a gun a shell provided with my invention, the fuse-'case and; plunger-caseV will4 be driven for ward with vimmense force, and Vinconseqi'lence of the inertia of the plunger the tongue E Willbe drawn smartly through the capl D and the friction priming or composition'therein/and will ignite the said priming or composition, Which-exploding, will burst open the bottom of the chamber g and communicate'iire to the top of the fuse in the socket a.

I Would remark that the plunger Chas its chamber d/ made of a diameter as large as, if

not larger than, that of the fuse-socket a, in

order that the Walls of the plunger .may be arranged directly over the shoulder 6.'.

, I 'claimW y l.v An explosive friction apparatus or a plunger, a friction-composition chamber, a

plunger-case, and a friction-tongue, combined and arranged so as to be applied to a fuseflange, f, capable of being u set, so as toiclose the mouth ofthe chaniberg, asabove -ex-V plained.

4. The frietioirtongue as made with tWo or more vrasping-prongs, arranged substantially as described.

5. The arrangement of the vvalls of the plun ger with respect to the shoulder c and the fuse' socket a, substantially as described7 in order that the plungeror any portion th'ereof may* not, at the period of the discharge of a shell from a gun, cause the fuse to be disarran'ged or driven backward in or through its socket.

, B. F. STURTEVANT. Vitncsses:

RH. EDDY, F.` I. HALE, Jr.

Y Y 3f The extension of i the chamber Vgabetofthe Y S chamber d byineans ofa :dexibleV annular' 

